


The Not-a-Date Coffee Date

by Gypsymoon77



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Awkward Carlos, Carlos-centric, Drabble, Episode: e016 The Phone Call, Post Ep 16, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-03
Updated: 2014-08-03
Packaged: 2018-02-11 12:43:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2068683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gypsymoon77/pseuds/Gypsymoon77
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happened on the "date" after "The Phone Call".</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Not-a-Date Coffee Date

Carlos sat at the small bistro table nervously chewing his right thumbnail. It was a habit he had mostly beat in his childhood, but it cropped up in times of extreme anxiety such as year end finals, writing dissertations or meeting community radio hosts.

He knew what Cecil was thinking, that this was...a...a... _date_. He had heard Cecil's gleeful, city-wide announcement that they were going on a coffee date to discuss the non-existence of time. He always listened to Cecil's show. Every time he was on. Not that Carlos would ever admit that. He didn't want to sound like a stalker or something.

Which probably was the reason why he hadn't called Cecil back immediately to clarify that this was a non-date coffee...er...date. And he had gotten really distracted trying to puzzle out exactly who had come over to visit him that afternoon. And then there was the non-existence of time thing itself....

Carlos was still puzzling over the mystery visitor and was more than a little distracted when Cecil burst into the small coffee shop. He was dressed more subdued today in well-fitted jeans and a NVCR t-shirt. A messenger bag with old Boy Scout patches sewed on was slung over his shoulder.

“Hi, Carlos!” he greeted exuberantly as he slid into the seat across from the scientist. Cecil was smiling widely and looked so happy to see him. Carlos felt a jolt of panic at Cecil's seemingly unlimited enthusiasm. The same old social anxieties came bubbling up to the surface, and he blurted out the first words that came to his mind.

“This isn't a date!”

“Oh,” replied Cecil, much of his exuberance diminished. His smile disappeared and he glanced nervously about the coffee shop, his eyes not wanting to meet Carlos'.

Carlos felt his stomach tighten. ' _Stupid, stupid, stupid,'_ he silently cursed himself. ' _This is why a scientist is self-reliant.'_ For a moment he considered simply standing up and walking out of the cafe. There would be no more reports on perfect Carlos the Scientist. Or worse, there would be a lot of really nasty reports on Carlos the Scientist. But at least he wouldn't have to worry about making a fool of himself again.

Instead, he forced himself to remain seated and to smile. He remembered what his middle school counselor had told him. _Carlos, making friends is fun and easy!_

His middle school counselor had apparently been delusional.

“Um, what kind of coffee would you like? My treat?” he asked, trying to sound as if he regularly interacted with other humans and wasn't a slightly reclusive, extremely nerdy scientist.

Cecil's mouth turned upward slightly and then he peered over Carlos' shoulder at the menu board above the barista, pursing his lips as he considered his options. “I hear their new bat venom frappucino is good,” he commented, shifting his glasses further up his nose.

“Bat venom?” blurted Carlos, spinning to read the board himself. Truth be told, he had been so nervous he hadn't looked at the cafe's offerings. “Bat's aren't venomous,” he murmured as his eyes scanned over the menu. Some of the items made him shudder.

“Of course they are dear Carlos!” laughed Cecil, gaining back some of his confidence. He leaned over and playfully thumped the other man's upper arm.

Carlos glanced at him with a mixture of awe and jealousy. What would it be like to be so carefree? To not be afraid to stand in a room full of people, to be able to chat with ease with almost anyone, or to spend every day talking live on the radio to an entire town full of people? Carlos felt his mouth tilt into a small smile as he watched Cecil study the menu board. Violet eyes turned to meet his cocoa brown ones.

“Have you decided what you want?” inquired Cecil, completely undisturbed at catching the other man staring at him.

Carlos felt heat creep up his neck and into his cheeks. He mumbled something indistinctly under his breath. This caused Cecil to laugh outright, his head tilting to the side as he stared at the scientist in admiration. The scientist stood abruptly and fumbled for his wallet.

“I'll go get the drinks,” he muttered, walking over to the counter, only having to turn around and walk right back as he forgot to actually ask Cecil what he wanted.

_'You can do this, Carlos_ ,' he silently coached himself. ' _This is just having coffee with a...a...friend.'_

The scientist forced himself to blunder on, managing to obtain their drinks (his bat venom frap was going untouched back to the lab for testing) and get back to the table without making too big of a fool of himself. Or dropping the drinks. Or collapsing onto the floor in a existential breakdown brought on by social anxiety.

_'Yes, you too, Carlos, can make friends and influence people!'_ He thought to himself rather sarcastically. He took a deep breath and focused in on Cecil. 

He began by quizzing the radio host on his contacts in city hall and then moved on to how time acted in general in Night Vale, Carlos making notes on his tablet as they talked. He found himself relaxing as the time passed (or didn't pass, he couldn't be quite sure...). It was surprisingly easy to talk to Cecil. Carlos had to wonder if it had something to do with Cecil's voice; just listening to him seemed to make the scientist calmer. He surreptitiously made a quick recording of Cecil speaking with a program on his tablet in order to run sound analysis on it later. For science, of course.

Carlos glanced over his notes as Cecil finished the last sip of his coffee. He had learned more about Night Vale, but as always seemed to be the case, the more he learned, the more questions he had. He should his head at the wonder of it all and then glanced up at the radio host.

“Thanks, Cecil, I really appreciate you taking time to talk with me today. I hope I didn't bore you too much,” he said somewhat bashfully.

“Oh, no, this is all really neat!” replied Cecil, his voice squeaking in his excitement. He turned a bright red and fumbled with his empty coffee mug in embarrassment. “That is, I mean, I really enjoyed it. Maybe we can do this again sometime?”

Cecil looked up at Carlos, his white-blonde hair falling into his violet eyes. The scientist ignored the odd feeling in his chest as his heart rate picked up.

“Yeah, maybe,” he answered vaguely, as he began packing his tablet and other belongings into his worn leather knapsack. He stood and slung the bag over his back and clutched his experiment-worthy coffee. Cecil stood as well, following him out of the cafe. They paused outside on the sidewalk, both taking a moment to stare up at the sky which was decidedly mauve today.

“Really, Cecil, thank you,” stated Carlos, smiling over at the other man.

“My pleasure,” the other man replied, practically purring. He reached out and let his fingertips graze the back of Carlos's hand.

The scientist turned a deep shade of red and murmured something about leaving an experiment running and having to get back to the lab. He turned and practically bolted back in the direction of the lab.

“Bye, Carlos!” Cecil called after him.

Carlos waved without turning around, not trusting his voice to reply. He pushed his hair back from his face. The hair that he had been growing out. For completely different reasons than Cecil liking his hair long. 

' _A scientist is self-reliant_ ,' he chastised himself silently, repeating the phrase like a mantra. Then he thought back on the time he had just spent with Cecil, recalling his smile, his laugh, the way his eyes lit up when he was talking about something he found particularly exciting. Carlos allowed himself a tiny smile. 

“Well, maybe a scientist doesn't have to be completely self-reliant,” he commented to a passing Hooded Figure, which seemed more than a little baffled at being addressed.

And with a bounce in his step, Carlos walked back into his lab.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Because I need fluff. I am not handling "The Separation" very well. Since it's a pre-relationship fic, I didn't put any pairings or relationship info, though it's kind of implied that they are crushing on each other. Hope that was ok? Anyway, hope you enjoyed, dear reader.


End file.
